Paying what the work is worth is certainly important but I don't know if making up new titles just to give the impression of a career path is worthwhile. I'd rather be a "senior" DBA than a DBA II - when there are numbers after a title, it doesn't say much. You could be the most senior DBA in the department as a DBA II, or you could be the most junior.

If you're doing valuable work and your salary reflects that, that's what is important. Honestly I'd rather the structure is more flat for technical roles - everyone has the same title. It's good to have a pyramid when you're talking about management and who reports to who. But in technical roles the individuals with more experience or technical expertise stand out as natural leaders anyway - why does anyone need a formal title to say "Hey, you're more senior than person y".